Work from home or on the road

One great benefit for many writers is the ability to work from home. We love being our own boss and sitting is comfortable clothes creating a world that exists only in our mind.

The one draw back is, in the real world, there are bills to be paid and writing income isn't always consistent. We also have things to do: grocery shopping, ballet practice with the kids, and other errands. That means we don't have the luxury of simply sitting in front of a laptop all day. So here are two REALLY exciting things I've discovered [ok, discovered is a bit strong...I just found out about them]. I want to share them with you to see if they will benefit you.

First, Work from home. I found this in the spring but before I told everyone about it I decided to try it for myself. It is called ODesk and it is a place that looks for freelanceers. The great things about this is you can find freelance work AND if you need someone to do a job for you, you can put a job out there and people will bid on it. I took on a job that was going to be a few articles and I'm still writing for them. I love it. It took me about a month or two before I secured my first job but I was only checking every week or two. If you have computer skills-beyond writing-there are many opportunities. I'd encourage all of you to at least sign up and see if you can find some work with them. It is a growing market!! And there are opportunities to learn and gain certifications as well. Click this link for all the details.

The second resource I found is for writers running errands. How many times have you been driving and suddenly you have a book idea or you remember that you need to set the roast out when you get home? A writer in a group I know just told us about Jott. This is a service that you can call on your cellphone and leave a message. It then transcribes the message [I'm assuming using transciption software] and emails it to you. There is a free version but even the paid version is only about $3/month. You are able to send emails to people by dictating them over the phone and telling the system to email it for you.

You can also have it retrieve blogs for you and READ THEM TO YOU as you drive. How cool is that!! I'm a busy mom of 4 girls. I can't risk their safety by writing myself notes but using a hands free phone I can leave myself a note on that great story idea, piece of dialog or thing I need to do. And to listen to all of my blogs just like the radio??? Now that is cool. Check them out at this link.

So there are two things to help you save time and make money!! What a great way to start a Monday!!

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter